Patna

After Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made major announcements for Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Tuesday that he told the NDA leaders about the special status or a special package, and as a follow-up, they have announced aid for a lot of things.

"I have continuously spoken for this (special status), I told them as well (NDA). I told them to give us either a special status or a special package. As a follow-up, they have announced aid for a lot of things. We were speaking of special status and a lot of people said that the provision for special status has been done away with much earlier. So, instead of that, aid should be given to help Bihar. They have now started it," Nitish said.

Speaking on the announcements, JDU MP and Union Minister, Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh said that after the implementation of these schemes, Bihar's growth rate will go up.

"We had demanded special status or special package for Bihar. Today's Budget has an abundance of packages for Bihar. Whatever sector you look at - be it strengthening infrastructure or developing tourism or irrigation - schemes are abundant in every sector. After the implementation of these schemes, Bihar's growth rate will go up," he said.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made major announcements for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, including a boost in infrastructure and special financial support.

In her Budget speech in Parliament, Nirmala Sitharaman said, "On the Amritsar-Kolkata industrial corridor we will support the development of an industrial nod at Gaya in Bihar. We will also support the construction of road connectivity projects namely Patna-Purnia Expressway, Buxar-Bagalpur Expressway, Bodhgaya-Rajgir-Vaishali-Darbanga and an additional two-lane bridge over river Ganga at Buxar at a total cost of Rs 26,000 cr."

"Power projects, including setting up of a new 2400 megawatt power plant at Pirpainti, will be taken up at a cost of Rs 21400 crore," she added.

Andhra Pradesh also benefited from the Union Budget 2024-25 as the Finance Minister announced special financial support to the state, recognising the state's need for capital.

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"Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act- Our govt has made efforts to fulfil the commitments in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. Recognising the state's need for capital, we will facilitate special financial support through multilateral agencies," Sitharaman said."

"In the current FY, Rs 15,000 crore will be arranged with additional amounts in future years," she added.